Tuesday, May 27, 2008
Sunday, May 11, 2008
Screw Neuro...I have even better news
I received this email reply after a super long wait from Lund Uni:
Dear Weixin,
I have accepted you to marine biology (BIOR12) and Plant Biology (BIOR26). Formally you lack Ecology. If possible, maybe you could read some Ecology text book yourself before the start of the course.
I'll be enjoying my dives while the rest enjoy the brain etc. Cheers!
I have accepted you to marine biology (BIOR12) and Plant Biology (BIOR26). Formally you lack Ecology. If possible, maybe you could read some Ecology text book yourself before the start of the course.
I'll be enjoying my dives while the rest enjoy the brain etc. Cheers!
Monday, May 5, 2008
E-Hub @ Downtown East
Malls are springing up all over the place in recent years and they come in different themes. There's the famous Vivocity but now let me introduce the latest family-styled mall all the way at Downtown East: Entertainment-Hub (E-Hub).
E-Hub at night is lovely with all the vibrant lighting. There's also a big ferris wheel inside the mall sponsored by Cadbury which is the main attraction at the mall...
E-Hub at night is lovely with all the vibrant lighting. There's also a big ferris wheel inside the mall sponsored by Cadbury which is the main attraction at the mall...
There's also a brand new bowling alley but damn expensive though ($4.50 for peak hours)...
Ferris wheel in daytime, it spans 3 storeys and is the key attraction...
Ferris wheel at night, reliving the fantasies of childhood...
A last shot of E-Hub by night and the ferris wheel....
Dinner was settled in a Hong Kong-styled eatery right at the basement. Had this Hong Kong Happy Bowl (鹵肉飯) for S$4.50. The dish comes with an egg, nicely-minced 鹵肉, a piece of fried tofu and the important thing is, they use Japanese rice!! 
Demonstration on how to prepare the Happy bowl for the taste test...
Demonstration on how to prepare the Happy bowl for the taste test...Next up, we have the Pork Chop Apple Curry Rice. Comes with a large serving of fragrant pork chop, a nicely fried egg and of course the taste curry sauce. This costs S$5.80...
Dessert was ChocoMilo with a scoop of Vanilla ice-cream. This is the only thing I won't recommend for consumption. Too many ice-cubes and not really worth the price of S$5.
Sunday, May 4, 2008
Cycling @ Pasir Ris Park
One fine day, the BS people decided to venture outdoors to discover new biodiversity and they ended up right here in Pasir Ris Park.
They stormed ridges and hills...
Braved diverging paths....
But eventually decided to call it a day with big wide smiles...
Melisa and I decided to examine the mangroves...
We ended up amongst the tree-tops...
Discovered some weird looking fruits...(take a look at this shot with my S770, it's really crisp!)
Found some 'single-pincer' mud crabs....
And finally a lone mudskipper...
Stay tune for the next updates in the search for biodiversity by the BS people....
Chocolate Frenzy
Tasty dark chocolates can never be enough. I'll choose this Dark Chocolate Decadence ice-blend anytime over Starbucks.
P/S: Mad, regarding the Godiva dark chocolate bread spread you posted previously, it's freaking expensive at S$18 for a puny bottle!!!
P/S: Mad, regarding the Godiva dark chocolate bread spread you posted previously, it's freaking expensive at S$18 for a puny bottle!!!
Another new gadget
Let me introduce my new handset for the next 2years:
The newly-released LG KS20 PDA Phone!!
Got a fairly good deal, S$298 comes with the handset itself coupled with a free leather pouch, a desktop battery charger and a spare battery!! I'm loving my first PDA phone...
The newly-released LG KS20 PDA Phone!!
Got a fairly good deal, S$298 comes with the handset itself coupled with a free leather pouch, a desktop battery charger and a spare battery!! I'm loving my first PDA phone...
Friday, May 2, 2008
Casio Exilim EX-S770
My new toy, the CASIO Exilim Card series: EX-S770. Really light, slim and handy. Best of all, it takes really sharp images and videos! 1 wonder about this camera: while on video recording mode, the user can still snap photos with an approximate lag of about ~1second. I'm never leaving home without it.
For those interested to find out more, do visit their homepage at:
http://www.exilim.com/intl/ex_s770
God's Will?
Ok, for those who are religious hardcores, your journey ends over here. For the rest, please proceed as you deem fit. Thanks.
Prior to the exams, I've been reading some blogs from friends, cousins and some other random readings (due to plain sickness of the notes). Throughout the examination duration, I've also seen and heard some stuff which forms the basis of what I'm going to blog about now.
To start things off, I find some things rather disturbing. In particular, I read my cousin's blog about her success story in the national examinations. The gist is, she goes to the Sunday class(for church) and the teacher/pastor requests for her to tell the class whether was there holy intervention to which she said she felt it throughout the entire examination duration. For a long while after this, I still can't make sense out of it. I'm not sure about you lot out there but the whole idea of linking one's success to holy intervention is like...overly idealistic? She's the success story of Jesus Christ and there was a positive response to her faithfulness to her religion. Yes, God is great!!
But just hold on a second, so am I getting the signal that whatever is going good and exceptional is the work of God whereas whatever's not smooth-sailing is attributed to the lack of faithfulness? What about the rest of the class over there? Didn't they share the same faith as my cousin? What about those in the same class that did not score well or even failed the examinations? Am I to infer that they aren't praying hard enough or God has a ruler of sorts to determine who succeeds and who fails?
Similarly, throughout the exams, group prayers prior to entry into the examination hall is a common sight. I usually don't pay much attention to what they say but there was once I walked past this group that was praying real loud. It went something like :" ....we pray that whatever we studied will come out and what we didn't won't.....". Sorry but I almost laughed out if I didn't manage to suppress it. I was thinking...what if all of them in that group focussed on different topics? So if God heard their prayer, wouldn't it cancel out all his holy intervention? Ultimately it still boils down to diligence. Study hard and you won't need God to magically remove questions you won't want to deal with. Inferring slightly deeper, I wasn't really pleased. Am I right to infer that only Christians who pray hard should do well and the rest who didn't pray and succumb to the faith should be a level below them?
Honestly speaking, I've been to church when I was a little kid but I've stopped the weekly routine for almost 20 years now. On a personal note, I'm really just coping fine with things around me. All these while I've worked and studied, I've always held the belief that there are always solutions to everything and nothing is linear. If this way doesn't work, let's go by another until we get to the target. I don't condemn the occurence of divine intervention or miracles, I just hold more belief in the fact that through crisis and hardship, it had not been God that aided me. When I required help, it was always people...common man like me and you, people whom we call friends, relatives or even acquaintances. When I was hungry back in camp, my sergeant brought me food. When I was down at the pits, it was my friends who showed me the way. When it was time to grow up, I learnt it the hard way.
If I had to give thanks, it won't be to God, I have lived 23 years of my life without holy interference of any degree. Instead, I have to thank my seniors for guiding me along during school life. I have to thank my mum for her chicken essence. I have to thank Qing Yuan and Eugene for their timely help at many times this semester. I have to thank my relatives for solving Melisa's visa problem at a time I had no time to make other arrangements. I had to thank some friends for understanding that I really have no time to contact them and the list never ends.
So people, why not look around you and appreciate the more practical stuffs of life? The immediate comfort of your friends, your family. Give thanks to them more than you have to give God. God might or might not aid you in times of need....they will.
Till then...
To start things off, I find some things rather disturbing. In particular, I read my cousin's blog about her success story in the national examinations. The gist is, she goes to the Sunday class(for church) and the teacher/pastor requests for her to tell the class whether was there holy intervention to which she said she felt it throughout the entire examination duration. For a long while after this, I still can't make sense out of it. I'm not sure about you lot out there but the whole idea of linking one's success to holy intervention is like...overly idealistic? She's the success story of Jesus Christ and there was a positive response to her faithfulness to her religion. Yes, God is great!!
But just hold on a second, so am I getting the signal that whatever is going good and exceptional is the work of God whereas whatever's not smooth-sailing is attributed to the lack of faithfulness? What about the rest of the class over there? Didn't they share the same faith as my cousin? What about those in the same class that did not score well or even failed the examinations? Am I to infer that they aren't praying hard enough or God has a ruler of sorts to determine who succeeds and who fails?
Similarly, throughout the exams, group prayers prior to entry into the examination hall is a common sight. I usually don't pay much attention to what they say but there was once I walked past this group that was praying real loud. It went something like :" ....we pray that whatever we studied will come out and what we didn't won't.....". Sorry but I almost laughed out if I didn't manage to suppress it. I was thinking...what if all of them in that group focussed on different topics? So if God heard their prayer, wouldn't it cancel out all his holy intervention? Ultimately it still boils down to diligence. Study hard and you won't need God to magically remove questions you won't want to deal with. Inferring slightly deeper, I wasn't really pleased. Am I right to infer that only Christians who pray hard should do well and the rest who didn't pray and succumb to the faith should be a level below them?
Honestly speaking, I've been to church when I was a little kid but I've stopped the weekly routine for almost 20 years now. On a personal note, I'm really just coping fine with things around me. All these while I've worked and studied, I've always held the belief that there are always solutions to everything and nothing is linear. If this way doesn't work, let's go by another until we get to the target. I don't condemn the occurence of divine intervention or miracles, I just hold more belief in the fact that through crisis and hardship, it had not been God that aided me. When I required help, it was always people...common man like me and you, people whom we call friends, relatives or even acquaintances. When I was hungry back in camp, my sergeant brought me food. When I was down at the pits, it was my friends who showed me the way. When it was time to grow up, I learnt it the hard way.
If I had to give thanks, it won't be to God, I have lived 23 years of my life without holy interference of any degree. Instead, I have to thank my seniors for guiding me along during school life. I have to thank my mum for her chicken essence. I have to thank Qing Yuan and Eugene for their timely help at many times this semester. I have to thank my relatives for solving Melisa's visa problem at a time I had no time to make other arrangements. I had to thank some friends for understanding that I really have no time to contact them and the list never ends.
So people, why not look around you and appreciate the more practical stuffs of life? The immediate comfort of your friends, your family. Give thanks to them more than you have to give God. God might or might not aid you in times of need....they will.
Till then...
Back after a long while...
Returning after a long disappearance, let me start off by presenting my girlfriend, Melisa!!
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